Feed mechanism for wire-fence machines.



W. V. REID.

FEED MECHANISM FOR WIRE FENCE MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 3|. I916.

Patented Oct. '9, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1- W. V. REID.

FEED MECHANISM FOR WIRE FENCE MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-3|. I916.

1,242,594. Patented 0%. 9,1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W.. V. REID.

FEED MECHANISM FOR WIRE FENCE MACHINES.

. APPLICATION FILED JAN-31.1916.

Patented 001:. 89,1917.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3- 7 mar-nun 1 v I %:r 61mm,

W. V. REID.

FEED MECHANISM FOR WIRE FENCE'MACHINES.

' APPLICATION FILED JAN.3I. I916.

1,242,594. Patented 0011.9,1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

' clear, and exact description .of the inven.

nnrrnn srarns rarnnrorrion WALTER V. REID, 0F RICHMOND, INDIANA, ASSI RICHMOND, INDIANA.

anon TO rE'r'rIs A. REID, 0E

FEED MECHANISM FOR 'WIRE-FENCE MACHINES.

Application filed January 31, 19 16. a Serial No. 75,364. r

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER V. REID, a V citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the county of Wayne and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed Mechanism for VVire-Fence Machines; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full,

tion, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make andnse.

the same.

This invention relates to mechanism for feeding materialof desired'lengths, longitudinally, to machlnesadapted to I'GCGlVG material in such manner, and more particularly to that class of machines used for making wire'fence, wherein the stay wire 1s fedto the machine automatically from the coil of wire into position to be operated upon by suitable devices adapted to form loops in the stay'and wrap the loops around the strand wires.

The objects of the invention are to provide a feed mechanism of the character re-. ferred to whereby the material or wire for forming a stay or the like may be fed to the machine automatically from the coil of wire,; longitudinally or endwise, in deslred lengths to form either a single stay at a time, or two stays or stay lengths either of equal length or of different lengths,

or stays of different lengths, alternately, by

driving shaft, a number of equal lengths or unequal lengths of material can be fed 'alternately -or simultaneously, and the time required to do such feeding, in a cycle of a machine to which the material is being fed, can be varied to suit the requirements of such machine.

The invention will first be hereinafter more particularly described, with reference to the accompanying drawlngs, which are to be taken as a part of tlns specificatlon, and

at a time,

frame. bevel drlve gear (Z which drives a bevel then pointed outin the claims at the end of the description.

Referring to said drawings, which illustrate a mechanism to feed one length during an operation of one cycle, and a different length during the next cycle of movement;

Figure 1 is a front elevation of, a preferred form of feeding mechanism embodymg my invention; v 7 Fig. ,2 is an end elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a top plan view thereof; Fig. L is a sectional plan, taken on the line H of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 represents a partial sectional ele vation with the shifting feed rolls at their lowest position and with the -co'-acting tilting feed roll thrown back into position not to engage the material tobe fed;

Fig. 6 is a detail View of the cam for ele-v vating the shifting rolls; I

Fig. 7 is a detail view of the cam for throwing the tilting feed roll out of engage-'- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oct, 9, 191 7.

ment with the shifting rolls or into inactive position; and

Fig. 8 is a detail ofthe shifting feed rolls,

on a slightly enlarged scale, so asto more clearly illustrate their construction.

Referring to said drawings, in which the same reference letters or numerals are used to denote corresponding parts 1n different views, the letter A may denote the frame in whlch the operative parts of the feed mechanism are journaled, and B the power shaft of the machine, which, when revolved at the,

same. speed as the time shaft of the machine to which material is being fed, may be an extension of said time shaft and journaled or not, as may be necessary, in the frame of.

the feed mechanism. C denotes the cam shaft; D a counter-shaft; Ethe feed r011 drive shaft; F the driven feed roll shaft; G a bell-crank lever for elevating the shifting feed rolls; H. a rocking lever for throwing the tilting feed roll out of operative relation to the co-acting shlftlng feed rolls.

Upon the power shaft Bis keyed a sprocket wheel'b driving achain b which in turn drives the counter shaft 1) through the sprocket wheel Z keyed thereto, which shaft may. be. journaled in suitable bearings I bolted or otherwise secured to the machine On the counter-shaft D is, keyed a pinion 0Z keyed to the feed roll drive shaft E. Upon the shaft E is slidably mounted a sleeve E driven by a feather key 0 on the shaft E. On the upper end of the sleeve E is keyed a spur gear E on the hub of which' is secured one or more feed rolls, K and K which preferably consist'of metal rings, each having a portion of its periphery cut away as at and 76 the cut away portionor gap thus formed being of greater length in one than in the other, to form unequal segments or peripheral surfaces for feeding different lengths of wire. The spur gear E meshes with a gear E which is keyed to the shaft F which is journaled in a bearing provided therefor on the upper end of the lever H. The gear E is made with a wide face so as to remain in mesh with. the gear E when the latter gear is in either its uppermost or lowermost position. To the shaft F at its upper end is keyed or otherwise secured a feed roll K On the power shaft B is keyed or otherwise secured another sprocket Wheel L driving a chain M which in turn drives a sprocket wheel N keyed or otherwise secured to the cam shaft C. I It will thus be seen that the feed rolls K, K and K are rotated by means of the drive shaft 13, thesp'rocket wheel Z), the chain 72 the sprocket wheel (Z, the bevel gears (Z and (F, the shaft it, the key @,-the sleeve E and the gears E and E while the cam shaft C is rotated by shaft B acting through sprocket wheel L, chain M, and sprocket N. However, it is obvious that movement can be imparted to the feed roll shafts and cam shaft by other means, such as bevel or spur gearing, instead of sprocket wheels and chains, as shown, and that if the machine with'which this feeding mechanism is to be used has shafts properly timed, the frame design of the feed mech anism can be changed to suit the positions of such shafts when extended, or the feed roll drive shaft E can be directly connected to one of the machine shafts, and the motion for levers G and H can be imparted by levers or other means from cams mounted on a shaft within the machine, thereby dispensing with the chains and sprocket-wheel shafts B, C, and D, and'bevel gears (Z and (3 The tilting feed roll K is a plain roll having the same diameter at all points of its circumference, while the shifting rolls K and K have part of their working faces or peripheries cut awav, as before described, in order to adapt said rolls K and K to feed different lengths, the roll K having a longer feeding face than the roll K more of the feeding face of the latter being cut away, as indicated in Fig. 8, and by dotted lines at Fig, 3. The feed roll K rotates at all times in one plane, and to rotate either of the co-acting feed rolls K and K in the plane of roll K the sleeve E is provided with a groove at its lower end in which is mounted'or journaled in the machine frame 70 and provided with a roller 9 near its lower end, or in position tobe acted upon by the cam C on the cam shaft C, so as to rock the lever G and raise the sleeve E thereby raising the feed rolls K and K which are 75 rilowered by the positive action of a spring P, connecting the lower end of lever G with a fixed part of the machine frame, and by gravity, to keep the roller 9 in contact with the cam C Tothrow the feed rolls out of engagement for one or more revolutions, the shaft F, to which the feed roll K is secured, is journaled in the rocking lever H, which is pivotally mounted on a stud h projecting from a fixed part of the machine frame. This lever H carries a roller h near its lower end or in position tocontact with a cam C on the camshaft O and to the lower end of the lever H is attached one end of a spring Q, the other end of which is fixed to the machine frame so "that said spring will hold the feed rolls inengagement or operative relation to each other, except when disengaged by the cam C as best shown in Fig. 5 of the draw ings. At the time the blank space or gap k or s on feed rolls K and K is passing the small roll K the cam C is not in action, and to prevent the spring (,2 from rocking the lever carrying the roll K so as to bring 100 said roll K close enough to roll K or K to bend the wire or other material being fed, when more than one revolution of rolls K and K is used to feed the length required, an arm R projecting from the frame 105 is provided with an adjusting screw 9 by means of which the movement of the lever H may be limited so that the distance the spring Q may rock the roll K can be adjusted or varied by adjusting said screw.

Suitable guiding means for the material being fed can be mounted upon a bracket or fixed part of the machine frame, to guide the material to the feed rolls, and also guiding means to receive the material fed can be 115 mounted upon another bracket or fixed part of the machine frame on the opposite side of the feed rolls. Nhen feeding the stay wire to a fence machine, it is in most cases desirable to pass the wire through a wire 120 straightener, having two series of grooved rolls mounted in different planes, such as shown, for example, in patent to Reid, Reid and Kelley, dated November 9, 1915, No. 1,160,089, so that the wire may be drawn 5 between the two sets of rolls and straight ened, and for mounting such a straightener a shelf '8 may be cast with the machine frame, and when so mounted this straightener becomes one guide for guiding the wire 3 the pendant arm of the lever H, whereupon the spring Q rocks said lever and moves the. roll K over to roll K as shown in Fig. 1, i

to the feed rolls; and a tubular guide such as shown in said Patent No. 1,160,089 may be mounted upon the fence machine and extended close up to the feed rolls, to receive the. wire as fed by the rolls.

The operation of my improved feeding device will be readily understood from the foregoing description whentaken-in connection with the accompanying drawings, and v is as follows. Power is applied to shaft-B, which in turn, through sprocket wheel 1), chain Z2 sprocket wheel cl, shaft D, bevel gear wheel (Z bevel gear pinion d shaft E, feather e, and sleeve E imparts continuous motion to the feed rolls K, K and K and the same shaft B, through the sprocketfl wheel L, chain M, and sprocket wheel N,

revolves continuously the shaft 0 uponwhich is mounted the cam C which rocks the bell-crank lever G, which in turn imparts upward and downward movement; to the feed rolls K and K and upon this same shaft is mounted the cam C that acts upon the rocking lever H and imparts a rocking 'movement thereto, thus tilting the feed roll K and throwing it out of operative relation to the rolls- K and K Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawings, just after the point Y in the revolution of the feedrolls K and K has passed the line X- X, drawn through the centers of the feed roll shafts E and 1 and with the lower roll K in the plane of the roll K the cam C releases by-the time the point Y of the rolls K and K has nearly reached the line XX. At the time point Y has reached the line XX the wire is gripped bythe feed rolls and fed a distance equal to the full-diameter circum ference of the working face of'feed rollK rolls may be made smaller and given two or more revolutions to feed the required length. As soon as the required number of revolutions of rolls K and K has been made, and just after the point. Y has passed the line XX, the cam C starts to. separate the rolls K, K from roll K and has them fully separated just before the point Y reaches.

the line In other words, the rolls K, K and K are brought togetherand separated while the gap YY is passing:

the line XX. As soon as theirollsK and K have finished feeding and have been separated by cam C ,.the cam G which operative.

meanwhile has been holding ther'olls K and K in an elevated position, with roll K in the same plane as roll K as shown in Fig.

lowermost position, that is, roll K inthe same plane as roll K at which time'the 1, allows rolls K and K to return to their cam O releases the pendant arm 'of the lever H, whereupon the spring Q rocks said lever and'engages] the. rolls K andK while the gap in roll K is passing the line X-X, and these two rolls feed in the required amount of material, the amount fed being governed by the length of feeding face on the roll K and the number of revolutions given roll K during the feeding operation. As soon as the required numberof revolutions for the feeding operation has been given roll K, the

roll K is thrown out of engagement therewith, while the gap in said roll is passing line XX, at which time the cam C? elesame plane as roll K when these two rolls are again engaged, as already explained, ready to feed a duplicate of the first length of material fed. l

When desired to feed two stays simule taneously, another roll like the roll K? "is vates rolls K and K tothrow roll K in themounted above the roll K and the cam to raise and lower rolls K and K is removed I or the elevating parts made otherwise in- VVhen a considerable space is required between the wires fed, it will be apparent that the distance between the planes" of the two sets of rolls may be made to suit the requirements by the. use of distance rings to separate the rolls. Also when a certain length is to be fed successively," the means forelevating rolls K and K is made inoperative, and only one pair of feed rolls is used.

It will be understood, of course, that variousychanges may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention; hence I do not desire to be limited to the specific construction and arrangement'illustrated and described; It will also be understood that while my improved feed mechanism is designed and adapted especially for, use upon wire, fence making machines, that itis applicable to other uses,

for instancepfor feeding strip material to punch presses or'other machinery, and in either unequal or equal lengths, simultane-' ously, and the invention is not restricted in its application to 3 wire fence making machines.

Having thus described my inventiom what I claim as new and desire to secure.

by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Mechanism for feeding alternately a. long and a short stay length, comprisinga revoluble shaft carrying a feed roll com posed of unequal segments, a single revoluble roll and means whereby it is thrownpanaceaalternately into and out of operative relation to one of said segments, and mec nism for throwing said segments alternat 1y into position for cooperation with said single roll in feeding a stay length.

2. In a wire fabric weaving machine, means for automatically feeding alternately a long and a short length of wire endwise across a series of strand wires into position for the action of a series of loop forming and twisting devices and associated mechanisms, said means comprising a complex revoluble feed roll composed of unequal segments arranged one above another, a single revoluble feed roll beside said complex roll, means for throwing said single roll alternately into and out of position for cooperative action with one of said segments, and means for shifting the position of said complex roll so as to throw said segments alternately into position for cooperative action with said single roll.

3. A feeding device of the character referred to comprising a revoluble feed roll composed of unequal segments arranged one above another, a revoluble roll carried by a rocking lever whereby it is thrown alternately into and out of operative relation to one of said segments, and means for throwing said segments alternately into position for cooperative action with the roll carried by said rocking lever.

4. A feeding device of the character referred to comprising a plurality of superposed feed rolls slidably mounted on a shaft for imparting rotary movement thereto, a portion of the periphery of each roll being cut away so as to form unequal segments, a rocking lever carrying a feed roll in cooperative relation to said first mentioned rolls, means for actuating! said rocking lever so as to throw the roll carried thereby alternately into and out of operative rela tion to said first mentioned rolls, and means for shifting the position of the latter rolls so as to bring them alternately into oper ative relation to the roll carried by said rocking lever.

5. Wire feeding mechanism comprising a plurality of shifting feed rolls composed of unequal segments mounted one upon another on a shaft for imparting rotary movement thereto, a rocking lever carrying a feed roll adjacent and geared to said shifting rolls, means for rocking said lever so as to bring the roll carried thereby alternately into peripheral alinement with one of the segments composing said shifting rolls, and means for changing the position of said shifting rolls so as to bring the larger and smaller segments alternately into operative relation to the roll carried by the rocking lever.

6. A wire feeding device comprising a pair of feed rolls mounted on a shaft for imparting rotary movement thereto, each roll having a portion of its periphery cut away so as to form unequal segments, a rocking lever carrying a feed roll adjacent said pair of rolls, means for rocking said lever and throwing the roll thereon alternately into and out of operative relation to said pair of rolls, and means for shifting said pair of rolls so as to bring the larger and smaller segments alternately into operative relation to the roll carried by said rocking lever.

7. In combination, a shaft having a sleeve slidably fitted thereon and rotatable therewith a spur gear on said sleeve having a hub on which is secured a plurality of rings or feed rolls each having a peripheral. portion cut away so as to form unequal se ments, a roll mounted on a rocking lever adjacent said feed rolls; said lever carrying a gear in mesh with the gear on said sleeve, means for moving said sleeve and the rolls thereon lengthwise of the shaft so as to bring the larger and smaller segments alternately into operative relation to said adjacent roll, and means for rocking said lever so as to bring the roll carried thereby alter nately into operative relation with the larger and smaller segments carried by said sleeve.

8. In a device of the character referred to, a pair of feed rolls consisting of a plurality of rings having portions of their peripheries cut away to form unequal segments, a spur gear having a hub portion on which said rings are mounted,- a rocking lever, a feed roll beside said rings secured on a shaft journaled in said rocking lever and carrying a gear in mesh with the gear carrying. said rings, and means for throwing the roll carried by said rocking lever alternately into and out of operative relation to the other rolls, together with means for shifting the position of the latter rolls so as to bring the larger and smaller segments alternately into operative relation to the roll carried by the rocking lever.

9. In combination, a driven shaft having a sleeve slidably fitted thereon and rotatable therewith, a gear wheel carried by said sleeve with a pair of rings secured thereon, each having a portion of its periphery cut away so as to form unequal segments constituting segmental feed rolls, a bell crank lever and means associated therewith for moving said sleeve lengthwise of the shaft to shift the position of said feed rolls, a rocking lever having a shaft journaled therein carrying a feed roll adjacent said segmental rolls, and means for rocking said lever so as to throw the roll carried thereby alternately into operative and inoperative relation to the segmental feed rolls.

10. A wire feeding device comprising a segments mounted on a shaft for imparting rotary movement thereto, means for raising and lowering said rolls, a roll beside said segmental rolls arranged to rotate in cooperative relation thereto, and means for rotating the latter roll and throwing it alternately into and out of operative relation to that one of said segmental rolls which at the time may be arranged in the same plane.

11. A stay wire feeding device for Wire fence machines adapted to project the wire from a coil endwise across a series of strand wires into position for the action of a series of stay attaching devices, said feeding devices comprising a plurality of feed rolls composed of unequal segments mounted on a shaft for imparting rotary movement thereto, means for raising and lowering said rolls, a roll beside said segmental rr arranged to rotate in cooperative relation thereto, and means for rotating the latter roll and throwing it alternately into and out of operative relation to that one of said segmental rolls which at the time may be arranged in the same plane.

12. A feeding device of the character referred to comprising a plurality of feed rolls arranged one upon another and having unequal feeding surfaces, means for rotating said rolls in unison, a co-acting feed roll and means for rotating it, together with means for bringing said co-acting roll alternately into operative relation with one of said feeding surfaces for feeding alternately material in different lengths.

13. A feeding device of the character referred to comprising a plurality of feed rolls consisting of unequal segments mounted one upon the other, means for rotating said segments in unison, a co-acting feed roll beside said segments, and geared thereto, together with means for bringing the latter roll alternately into operative relation with the larger and smaller segments for feeding alternately material in diiferent lengths.

14. A feeding device of the character referred to comprising a single roller element rotatably mounted on a rocking support, a plurality of sidewise movable roller ele- Gopies of this patent may be obtained for ments rotatably mounted beside said single. element, and means for rotating said elements, together With means for rocking said support and moving said plurality of elements so as to bring the peripheral surfaces thereof alternately into cooperative relation to said single roller element, for feeding material'in desired lengths.

15. A feeding device of the character referred to comprising a driven shaft carrying a plurality of sidewise movable roller elements, a roller element rotatably and rockingly mounted beside said plurality of elements, means for rotating said elements, and means for moving said plurality of elements and throwing said single element alternately into operative relation with one and then another of said plurality of elements, for feeding material in desired lengths.

16. Mechanism for feeding wireor other flexible material longitudinally or endwise alternately in comparatively long and short lengths, comprising a pair of revoluble feed rolls composed of unequal segments, co-acting rolling means adjacent said segments, means for revolving said segments and rolling means, and means for causing said rolling means to cooperate alternately wlth said segments so as to feed the material in the desired lengths.

17. A feed mechanism constructed and adapted to intermittently move a wire or other material longitudinally a predetermined length, comprising a pair of unequal segmental feed rolls, rolling means arranged to cooperate with said segmental rolls alternately in feeding the required lengths, and means for revolving said segmental rolls and rolling means, together with means for bringing first one segmental roll and then another into cooperative relation to said rolling means so as to feed the material alternately in comparatively long and short lengths.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WALTER V. REID. Witnesses:

ALICE MoMANUs, L. E. STANLEY.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

